A celebration of earthy ingredients & real food

Easy Soup

Soups are a wonderful way to incorporate healthy foods into your meals. Vegetables, pulses, grains like barley, split peas…. Soups are easy vehicles for just about any healthy food you can think of. They can also allow you to include a variety of different things into one meal, without the hassle of cooking each thing as a separate dish.

There a millions of tasty soup recipes out there, but sometimes you might find yourself not wanting to follow a recipe – because you are trying to use what you’ve got, and not have to run out to the store for a set of called-for ingredients.

Also, even if you are following a recipe, it is a great to be able to know how to adjust the seasoning to make the soup the tastiest version of itself! : )

How to Make Tasty Soups Everytime

The secret to making amazingly tasty soups is to create what hot shot chefs call a ‘flavor balance’. The main way to do this is to play with the quantities of these below tastes / ingredients which determine the balance of flavor:

Salt

Sweet

Acid (usually vinegar or wine)

Fat (cream, butter, olive oil etc)

Besides these basic four, there are also two other flavors which can lift your soup to even tastier heights:

Umani

Heat

Note: I have not included herbs here, because they are usually part of the more ‘core’ ingredients to a soup. However if you want me to add in a section on herbs – let me know!

Step 1: Adding the right amount of salt!

The first thing I do when beginning to flavor, is to incorporate the salt. Adding the right amount is very important. Too much, and the soup will taste terrible. because of this it is tempting to just put in a little salt, and allow everyone to add their own if they want more. This does not always work, because many people might not even realise that the soup needs salt – and not add any. Also, remember that some people are scared to add salt to food someone else has cooked for them, because it can be thought of as rude. Like, ‘this is so blandddd, please pass me the salt’!

The way to get the salt amount right is to add a little, and taste. Keep adding and tasting until you reach a point where the soup tastes more flavorful than before, but not yet to where one can actually taste ‘in your face’ saltiness.

Tip: If you do accidentally over salt your soup, the way to fix this is to add more liquid. This might mean that you also have to add something to re-thicken your soup, like some cornstarch mixed in a bit of cold water to form a slurry.

Step 2: Add an acid (vinegar, wine, lemon juice etc.)

This is one of my favorites way to make a soup taste delicious. You have to add an acid! Most soups do not contain any acidic tasting ingredients. Adding something like apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, or a red or white wine itself, will usually do wonders for the flavor of your soup.

How much to add? Usually more than your think. Of course do not go crazy, simply add a little vinegar or other acid a little at a time, tasting along the way until it you think it tastes good.

Of course there are some soups, like a tomato soup which can be pretty acidic already. In this case, do not add more acid! Rather, focus on step 3 below.

Step 3: Do you need extra sweet?

Most soups get enough sweetness from their vegetable components. Carrots, onions, peas, cabbage, are all slightly sweet in taste – and provide the perfect hint of sweet that a soup needs. So usually you do not have to add any sweetening. However there are certain soups which do need it on occasion. Examples of these are some tomato soups, or soups which do not contain many vegetables.

Step 4: Do you need extra fat?

Fats in soups can take the form of things like cream, sour cream, oils, butter etc. Cream is one of the most popular fats for soups, and is usually added towards the end, at the flavoring stage of a soup. The amount of extra fat which you add to your soup at the end, is also something which should be done so that it is in balance with the soup. Too little fat and the soup will taste like boiled up stuff. Too much, and it will be overly oily / rich and not yummy.

Step 5: Adding Sources of Umami

Something that all soups should have is an umami flavor. Umami refers to what we term ‘savory’. If you have used a stock in your soup, you might not need to extra things for umami, especially if it is a meat based stock.

However, if you have not used stock, or have used a vegetable stock which is not very savory in taste, then you might want to add something to up the umami factor of your soup.

These are some things which you can use to add umami flavor to soups:

Fish oil (just a drop or two!)

Nutritional yeast (you can be generous)

Dried and powdered mushrooms

Miso paste

Parmesan

Soya sauce

My personal favorite out of these is the nutritional yeast. Its full of B vitamins which is really great if you do not eat meat.

The last two options, parmesan and soya sauce I would use discerningly. This is because while they are both full of umami, they are also full of their own signature flavor. The parmesan of course has strong cheese tones, and the soy sauce’s flavor is associated with eastern food. Of course if you want a cheesy flavor, like in a potato, onion, cauliflower soup, or tomato soup, then parmesan is a great choice. And if you are making a eastern style broth, then soya sauce is definitely a must.

Step: 6 Adding Heat

Adding heat (in the form of spice / pepper) to your soups is a great way to make them even more mouth watering. I usually use black pepper, white pepper, or chilli pepper like dried cayenne.

The Trick: Do not add too much heat – unless you specifically want a very hot / spicy soup. Soups are a great conductor of heat from peppers / spices. A little goes a long way. I find that for most soups, the best is to use a small amount of pepper, most often freshly ground black pepper.

And that’s my list of tips for how to make the tastiest soups! Don’t hesitate to comment if you have any question. I also want to do a post on the different ways to construct a soup – is this something which would be useful to you my reader?

In the meantime – enjoy the soups! : )

How to Make the Best Soups was last modified: November 17th, 2017 by Daniela Klein

Soups are one of the best ways to eat extra vegetables – or to eat a totally vegetable based meal. Soups are also a dish to make if you want to cook a low carb meal for yourself, while still providing carbs for your partner / family / kids etc. Simply serve up some whole grain toast or soft bread, you can have as much soup as you like – and they can have as much bread or toast as they like.

This leek and onion soup is one of my favorite current soups. There is a school of thought that the fewer ingredients one incorporates into a dish, the more impact it will have because one’s taste buds can zone in and concentrate on the star ingredients.

I think this is why this soup is so nice – the leek and onions are both alliums, so they are inherently similar to the taste buds. But also different enough to add complexity. There is also a generous amount of garlic. Because of these three antiviral powerhouses, this soup is a great one for winter months when you want make sure that viruses will have a hard time taking hold.

Before I give you the recipe, I just want to touch on an important topic. I want to write a proper post on this, so that if you find it useful you can share these tips with a friend, but for now bear with me. : )

How to Create a Perfect Balance of Flavor in Soups

When making a soup, one of the most important stages is flavoring the liquid well. There will be some flavor from the big ingredients that you are using, in this case alliums which have a fair amount of their own flavor.

However, the key to making a soup which is hearty and full of flavor lies in balancing a couple other flavors.

The Four Flavors / Ingredients to Tweak in Your Soups

The four ingredients which make up the flavor balance of a soup are as follows.

Salt

Acid (usually vinegar or wine)

Sweet

Fat (cream, butter, olive oil etc)

If you strike a perfect balance of these four, you will probably have the perfect soup. Let’s take a look at each of these elements and how much or how little to use of them roughly.

Salt

Salt is a key component to most food, especially things like soup and stews. If you oversalt a soup, it will be awful. Every spoonful with be unpleasant. However if you under salt a soup, the person you are serving it to might not think to add salt of their own accord.

They simply think, oh, quite a nice soup, and eat it. Not knowing how dynamic the soup would have been if a tiny bit more salt were added. So it is very much up to you as the cook to gauge this. Remember, some people are also shy to add salt to food that someone else has cooked, because it could be seen as an insult ‘Oh this food is flavorless, where is the salt shaker’.

So, when you are adding salt to your soups, do it in small increments, tasting along the way. In my recipes, I always put ‘salt and pepper to taste’. Firstly I cannot dictate to you how much salt and pepper you like. Personally I am heavy handed on the pepper because I love it, and very picky about how much salt to add. This could be slightly too much for some, or not enough for others. Secondly, ‘to taste’ is the actionable bit. You must taste! If you do not taste your soup as your are making it – it would be like painting a picture blind!

Ok, that sounds a bit over the top. But I am sure a real chef would agree ; P.

Acid

Acids in cooking are all the things which are acidic in ph, and in soups this would usually be things like vinegar, lemon juice, red or white wine, and tomato.

It might seem strange to put vinegar into a soup, but trust me, it makes all of the difference.

The aim of the game is not to make the soup sour, but simply to lift it. For some reason adding an acid to a dish usually makes it taste more savory.

Again, the key to getting the amount right is to add in increments and taste in between. I usually put the exact amount of acid ingredient in the ingredients section for my recipes, but if say your vegetables are slightly more than mine, then this amount will be thrown out. So always taste.

Hint: You usually need a little more acid than you think.

Sweet

Although part of The Four I very rarely add sweetening to a soup. Usually the vegetables are enough, and all sweetening can come from them. There is one exception, and that is in a tomato soup. You might find that in tomato soup you need a little sugar, because the acidity of the tomatoes is overly high and the soup tastes too tart.

Fat

A form of fat in soups is very important. Of course there is a limit, but generally a fat free soup will lack complexity and wow factor. Even a small amount of a fat will elevate a soup. If you are vegan, and prefer to boycott dairy, simply use extra olive oil, or other oil of your choice. I always specify the amount of oil, butter or cream in my recipes, but again it is always good to do a taste check.

When your soup is finished cooking, give it a last taste, and if it need extra richness and body, simply add a little fat of your choice.

Phew! For an easy soup I have really bombarded you with the info! But this flavor balancing is actually simple, and it is indeed the easiest and most sure fire way to consistently make killer soups.

I love tomato soup, but struggle sometimes to make one which is not overly acidic.

Which is why I came up with the idea of sundried tomatoe soup: D! Ok, and then I looked online and realized half the world is making it.

The final soup which you have here is a low carb team up of creamed cauliflower paired with strident sun dried tomatoes. The reason for this is…. While low carb creamed cauliflower soup may be all the rage and look just like potato soup to trick us – I often finds it tastes a little bit like… ass.

Sundried tomatoes on the other hand do not taste like ass at all, and are quite a domineering ingredient. They interrupt the cauliflower stinkyness beautifully.

To get the most out of my sundried tomatoes, I used the ones which are soaked in olive oil. I then used the olive oil in the soup to richen it up.

How to Make Sundried Tomato Soup

When making tomato soup with sundried tomatoes, it is important to simmer the dried tomatoes until they are soft before blending them. You could do this with all of the other soup ingredients or separately. I prefer to do this separately, as it gives more control over the cooking time of each part of the soup, and give one a chance to make a roux.

This is the method I use to make sundried tomato soup:

Steam the sun dried tomatoes until soft.

Add the cauliflower and steam. Blend.

Make a roux.

Combine the two pots and allow to simmer briefly.

Its pretty simple, but I thought I would just outline it here quickly because the recipe instructions can make this seem more complicated than it is.

Instructions

First off place your sundried tomatoes into a large pot with 3 cups of water. Simmer them until they have softened.

While the tomatoes are simmering and softening, chop the cauliflower up roughly and dice the onions, tomato and garlic.

Once the sun dried tomatoes are soft, add the chopped cauliflower to this pot and allow them to steam up until soft. Do not overcook them, as then you can get that stinky ‘overcooked cauliflower’ aroma setting in.

In a separate large pot, heat the butter and tomato oil. To this add the diced onions and fry on high. Add the diced tomatoes and continue to fry. After a few moments add the flour. Stir this through, allowing the flour to brown slightly.

Now add 3 cups of water and stir while this thickens.

Take the cauliflower pot off of the stove and blend this together with the remaining 3 cups of water.

Add the blended cauliflower and sundried tomatoes to your roux pot.

Add all other ingredients including salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer together for 1 minute. If you think that the soup should be a little richer, you can also add a little extra olive oil.

Notes

For vegan options: Replace the butter with a generous slug of olive oil. Replace the 1 cup milk with stock or water, or a nut milk.
For gluten free options: Replace the flour for thickening with cornstarch by combining 2 tablespoons cornstarch in a small cup with enough cold / room temp water to make a paste. Stir this slurry until all lumps are out with a fork and add this to the soup. You will not add flour to the onions, simply fry them - add water and then add the cornstarch mix and continue with recipe.

I love soup. If I had to only eat one thing, or cook one thing…. I think it mightttt be soup.

Usually chicken soup (if you are making if from scratch) can take some time to cook up. But this only needs two chicken breasts and 30 minutes to make!

Wild rice is super healthy, and it adds a bit of fibre filled grain to the chicken soup. I find this is great when you are making a soup which is going to play the role of main course for the night. Barley is another lovely grain for soups – and I think it deserves a place on the blog in the near future.

Anyways, just so you can see how easy this is to do, here is my rough process. I get the wild recie going, and then I place two chicken breasts in cold water in a pot on the stove. If they are frozen, I only turn the heat up half way. Then I simmer them properly, until cooked to the center. The water that the chicken breasts simmer in acts as the stock.

With two forks, I pull apart the chicken breasts, and add the rice and any chopped veg to the chicken pot. Get it to heat, add all other miscellaneous ingredients – and you have a creamy comforting chicken and wild rice soup – in under 30 minutes!

I just love this recipe, and when I am in doubt as to what to cook, at the moment this is what constantly works its way into my mind. : )

If you are planning to make this soup, and want some quick easy bread to go with it – then this last minute soda bread is a good option.

In the southern hemisphere, chayotes have just come into season! On the farm, we are starting to have them coming out of our ears. Well, out of the garden to be more specific – but in such quantities that it is definitely time to make chayote soup. And more chayote soups… and maybe some chayote stir fries… and salads… you get the idea.

What Are Chayotes?

Chayotes are a fruit type vegetable which grow on a climbing vine. Chayotes, also know as Shu Shu’s and christophines, are indigenous to Mesoamerica. Commonly occurring in South American dishes, it is squash like in taste.

How are Chayotes Used?

Chayotes are commonly steamed, sauteed, and even used raw in the place of cucumber. The young ones are the most suited to raw use. Young chayotes can be used whole – skins and all. More mature fruit should be peeled, as they can start to develop small, soft spines on the skin.

What are Chayotes Like in Soup?

Chayotes make for a really great soup base. Their flavor is mild, and can carry the taste of spices and other ingredients well without overpowering the dish.

Is Chayote Soup Complicated?

No. Don’t be fooled by the exotic name. The chayote soup recipe I developed (you can hardly call it developed it so simple to make) is roughly as follows:

Steam potato and chayote pieces. Blend.

Add flavorings. Return onto stove top, add one whole chilli and raise temperature to serving heat – or until the desired amount of chilli flavor has permeated the soup. Serve.

I made this a vegan recipe, with olive oil to add the richness – but you can go crazy and add butter, cream or cheese if you are a non vegan.

Adding the Chilli

As mentioned above, once I return the soup to the heat after blending, I add a whole green chilli to the pot. This is a carribean method of flavoring pots with chilli….. And one of my favorite ways to extract the delicious umami flavor of green chillies – without bringing along too much of their burn!

The way it works is like this: as some of your are probably more than aware, the heat of chillies lies in their seeds. Phewww!!! The flavor mostly resides in the outer flesh. By inserting them whole into a dish, the heat of the simmering pot pulls forth the flavor, while the super intense burn of the chillies remains locked inside them. If anyone out there has ever put too much white or black pepper in a soup – you will know how thoroughly a soup can spread and amplify the HEAT of pepper. Which makes this strategy perfect for flavoring soup with chilli, without burning the heck out of your family/guests.

Personally I am one of those crazy people who enjoy having beads of sweat rolling down my forehead when dining. So, in order to have my guests survive and still get my chilli fix, what I do is I dish up the soup (mildly flavored with green chilli) and then I offer (to general dissent) extra chilli. Once that formality is over with, I dish the green chilli up into my bowl, and play cat and mouse with it throughout my meal.

So, what I mean is that you can basically scale the level of spiciness up and down with this dish. What the caribbean people do, is they dish up the whole chilli onto a side plate. This is then passed around, and anyone who likes go bright red at table and take sucking breaths, is able to take extra chilli.

Instructions

Combine the potato and 5 cups of water in a medium to large sized pot.

Cook until the potato is almost tender. Add the Chayote pieces.

Continue to cook until all is tender

Remove from the flame and blend. I use a stick blender, but a regular blender or food processor will do also get the job done.

Add any further water if you wish the soup to be less thick.

Return to the flame and add all other flavorings.

Lastly place the whole chilli in the center of the pot.

Simmer until the pot has reached serving temperature, or until the desired amount of chilli flavor / heat has spread through the pot.

Creamy Chayote Soup was last modified: April 27th, 2017 by Daniela Klein

Notes

If your chayotes are young you can probably cook them with their skin. However if the chayotes are more mature, they might have developed tiny spines on their skin. If this is the case, it is best to peel them.
If you feel that the soup is lacking zing, add a little extra apple cider vinegar for more contrast in the flavor profile. But go slowly! White wine can also be substituted in place of the vinegar if desired.

Pin it! : )

Creamy Chayote Soup was last modified: April 27th, 2017 by Daniela Klein